Fountain Of Youth
by nancy777ca
Summary: Book 3 of the DeanAnnie series. Hope ya'll enjoy! Violence, mature themes and yes...there will be shtupping.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Dad?" Annie asked in surprise, sitting up as Sam moved off her, secure in the knowledge that while everyone in the room was shocked stupid, there'd be no danger of any brawling for the moment.

"Where is he? Is he all right?" Dean asked, he stuck out his hand. "Gimme the phone."

Sam pushed his hand away. "Dad, where are you?"

Annie watched a myriad of expressions on Sam's face. He finally seemed to settle on irritation. "What? What are you-No. Dad, forget it."

"Forget what? What's he saying?" Annie asked half hoping Sam gave her the phone so she could give daddy dearest an earful.

"Yeah. She's here. I know but. Dad-Dad-Dad! We're not going to Seattle."

"Seattle? What the- Gimme the phone!" Dean demanded grabbing Sam's arm but he jerked back, not allowing Dean to take the phone from him.

"Is he in Seattle?" Annie asked.

"I don't care. You disappear off the face of the earth, and when you finally call it's to give us a case?"

"He what?" Annie asked with horrified indignation.

"Dammit give me that-Dad?" Dean asked, having finally wrested the phone away from Sam. "Where are you?" He met Annie's gaze. "Yes, Sir. No. I wouldn't have but she's deter…" he blinked, his face darkening. "Yes, Sir."

"You tell him if he has a problem with me coming with you guymmkph!" Annie began but Dean reached out a hand to cover her mouth.

He listened for a few more seconds, punctuated his end of the conversation with a nod and then hung up.

"Well?" Sam and Annie asked at the same time.

"We're going to Seattle," Dean said pocketing his cell phone.

"Like hell," they replied in unison again.

Dean stared at them both and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we are. Get your stuff. I'm gonna go check out."

Sam and Annie stared at each other. "That jerk has got to be the poster child for blind obedience. I mean, after everything dad has pulled over the years…Unbelievable!"

"Yeah well, that's Dean. But if he thinks I'm just gonna fall in line he's got another thing coming," Sam promised, even as he stuffed his clothes in his duffle bag.

"So is this how we work now? Dad stays behind the curtain like the Goddamned wizard of Oz and pops up to send us on cases every once in a while?" Annie asked, leaning her elbows on the window of the car.

"Get in. Unless you're gonna actually do as you're told and go home like a good little girl."

Annie narrowed her eyes at him and pulled the passenger side door open.

Sam slid in the backseat. Annie watched him through the rear view mirror sending him a sympathetic weak smile. His eyes softened for a split second but he continued to stew silently and Annie got the feeling he was trying to keep himself from blowing his top. She just hoped Dean had the good sense not to goad him. The three of them sat in silence as Dean pulled out of the motel parking lot and onto the highway.

"So, what's in Seattle?" Annie finally asked after a few minutes.

"Babies. Four of them found dead in the past two months. Bodies completely drained of blood."

"My God," Annie gasped raising a hand to her mouth.

"So any chance your buddy Randall was headed to Seattle when you let him escape?" Dean asked, his voice hard.

"That's not funny," Annie snapped.

"Good, cause I'm not joking," Dean shot back. "My head is still killing me."

"Must be all that hot air," Annie replied curtly.

Dean gave a humourless laugh and then shrugged. "Anyway, dad doesn't think it's a vampire."

"Really?" Sam growled behind them. "And what does _dad_ think it is? Assuming that he took the time to tell you after barking out his order so that you could fall in line like a good little soldier."

"Hey, what the hell is your problem? Dad just wants us to check this out. You'd rather we just let these babies die?" Dean asked, glaring at Sam through the rear view mirror

"No, of course not. This isn't about the case. This is about you just blindly obeying dad. Ever since we were kids, Dean, his word has been like the bible with you."

"Right, it's called being a good son," Dean reminded him.

Sam's eyes glittered dangerously and Annie knew she had to step in before punches were thrown and they drove into a ditch.

"Okay, guys. Guys? As much as I can appreciate that for once, I'm not the other half of this little battle, I think we should all just cool down and give it a rest-"

"This is exactly why I left in the first place. Dad just expects us to jump when he orders it and not question him-"Sam said.

"And we're off," Annie groaned throwing her hands up.

"The man disappears and without so much as an explanation he calls you and you're off like some damned programmed robot."

"Oh screw you!" Dean sneered. "Nobody is forcing you to come along on this one. You want out? Here, I'll pull over." Annie watched in growing horror as he proceeded to do just that.

"What are you doing?" Annie asked in disbelief.

"You think, I won't?" Sam challenged. He opened the door as soon as Dean stopped the Impala.

"Sam, wait!" Annie pleaded.

"I think the area code on the screen said 213. Dad's somewhere in California. That's where I'm headed."

Dean followed him out and Annie turned and dug her forehead into the head rest of the seat before climbing out as well.

"Hey, you think I won't take off? I will leave your ass!"

"Good. That's what I want you to do," Sam countered.

"No!" Annie pleaded. "Sam, you don't mean that. Dean, he doesn't mean that. Just, come on, Sam. Get back in the car, please."

"You're one selfish bastard," Dean said, turning back towards the car, he faced Annie. "So, you want to take off too?"

Annie stopped, unsure and if it was possible, Dean's eyes got colder.

"Forget it," Dean turned and stormed back to the car.

"Sam, come on," Annie pleaded, grabbing the edge of his jacket.

"It's okay. Go with Dean. He should have someone watching his back. He's pissed and that'll make him careless. I'll feel better if you're there."

Annie fought a pang of guilt at her relief that Sam was making the decision for her. She wanted to find John. But she didn't want to leave Dean. She cursed his damned invisible pull on her. If this had happened when he had first come back in her life, maybe she would have found it easier then, as furious as she had been with him. But their truce seemed to be taking hold and remembering his mouth on her in the motel bathroom she was honestly torn.

"Dammit, Sam," Annie whined. "If you find dad-"

He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I'll call you, okay? And you call me if you need anything."

Annie blinked away the burning in her eyes and walked back to the Impala.

Dean stared at her in surprise as she opened the door and slid onto the seat. Buckling herself in, she stared straight ahead and waited for him to start driving again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_What the hell was I thinking? No good can come of this,_ Annie mused silently as the car made it's way down the highway, Dean quiet behind the wheel. He glanced at her a few times but said nothing.

_I should have gone with Sam,_ Annie told herself. But no, he'd wanted her here with Dean. And if Annie was honest with herself, it hadn't taken much arm twisting on Sam's part. Sam was going after their father and truth be told, as furious as she was with the man, she was not ready to face him.

Or the demon. She shuddered. Though the demon hunting was coming back to her, Annie wasn't ashamed to admit, if just to herself that she was in no way ready to fight the monster at the heart of all the catastrophe in their lives. She needed more time. She needed to be better. So she was here, with Dean, off to face God knows what in preparation for the showdown with the demon that she knew they were all facing somewhere down the line.

"So, you gonna tell me what you're doing here? I mean, I thought you and Sam were joined at the hip," Dean remarked.

"I didn't think you could handle this job without me," Annie lied.

Dean snorted.

"Sam asked me to stay. Let's just leave it at that, 'kay?"

"What? Like a babysitter?" Dean asked, none too pleased with that by his tone.

"Dean," Annie sighed.

"What? You're always taking his side on everything and I know that you're on his-"

"I am not always taking his side-"

"on this too so forgive me if I find it-"

"it's just that you happen to be wrong about a lot of-" Annie closed her eyes and forced herself to stop. "Dean!"

"What?" he snapped.

"Can we at least try to have a civil conversation for once? I mean for God sake! For two people who haven't seen each other in years, all we do is fight. It's like we're a damned old ma-" She didn't dare finish that line of thought but her cheeks did flush and Dean's eyes did snap to hers, telling her he knew exactly what she'd been about to say. She cleared her throat and tried to take the conversation in a different direction. "We have to learn to work together which means we're gonna have to be able to be in the same vicinity without tearing each other's head off."

"Like back in the motel bathroom?" he countered with a raised eyebrow.

Annie blinked. Well, nice to know that age had done nothing to cure him of his lack of tact. "Right, except for the tongue," she tossed back, unable to help herself, even as her face burned.

"Didn't hear any complaints at the time," Dean reminded her.

Complaints? Not quite. More like she'd been rubbing up against him like a bitch in heat. "Cause you were using my mouth as a chew toy," Annie hissed angrily.

Dean actually smiled at her. Smiled! She stared at him, feeling an answering grin fighting around the edges of her mouth. No. She was still furious with him. "We had a deal, Dean. A truce, remember?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who knocked you unconscious," he pointed out, his smile fading quickly.

"You didn't even give me a chance to-"

"Explain? Apologize?"

"We're not going to get into that because that's a whole other issue and I'm not going to apologize for letting an innocent man-"

"Vampire, sweetheart. He's a fucking vampire and don't you forget it," Dean snapped.

Annie threw up her hands. "How did we get on the subject of Randall?"

"You started it," Dean reminded her.

"Did not!" Annie replied indignantly. God help her, he had her babbling like a six year old. "Just-Ugh!" she grunted. 24 years old and she'd actually grunted. "Stop the car,"

"Come again?"

"Stop the fucking car!" Annie explained, almost hysterically.

"We're in the middle of the highway, woman!"

"Pull over, asshole," Annie shot back, narrowing her eyes.

He shook his head but pulled onto the shoulder and stopped. "Now what, officer?"

"Get out." Before he could ask her why, Annie opened her side of the car and came around to his as he got out.

"What are you, high? What are we-"

Annie punched him. The impact sent a shock of pain up her arm.

"Ow!" they both said at the same time.

"What the fuck was that for?" Dean asked, holding the side of his face.

"Practice. Now come at me," Annie said, motioning him towards her.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Talking doesn't seem to be our strong suit so I say while you're being an ass, we get in some practice time. You promised you'd help getting me back in fighting shape to get back in the hunting game so let's go. So put up or shut up. Let's get it out of our system, shall we? Attack me."

"All right. Don't say I didn't warn-" And before he finished his sentence he took her arm and flipped her easily over his shoulder and onto her back on the grass.

"Christ!" Annie gasped, the wind knocked out of her.

"Can we go now?" he asked looking down at her.

Annie reached out a leg and hooked it behind his ankle, buckling him so that he crumpled next to her. She stood up and took a deep breath. "Okay, show me how to do that thing you just did."

"You actually think little ol' you is gonna toss me over your shoulder?" Dean asked with an amused smile.

"If you don't teach me, I still believe a well placed knee can-"

He jerked backwards at the warning. "Fine. But just FYI, demons don't have balls so that little trick isn't gonna do you much good on the job."

"Maybe not, but its good stress relief for when you piss me off and a relaxed hunter is a good hunter, right?"

"Smart ass. Okay, I'm gonna come at you like I'm gonna punch you. Now grab my arm,"

He came at her slowly and she moved her head back and took his arm. Then they did it again faster and he nodded. "Good. Now with your free hand, get me in the middle to buckle in."

She landed a soft punch to his gut, ignoring the fact that there was not an ounce of fat on the man. Okay, maybe 'ignore' was the wrong word. Noticed without comment, was better.

"Now get your shoulder in there."

"In your stomach?"

"Right,"

She bent forward, her face level with his hip and drove her shoulder into his stomach, albeit gently, and realizing where he was guiding her, used the leverage to make him curl inward and over her, pushing herself up, with his extra weight, she kept a strong grip on his arm and flipped him over her shoulder with a triumphant squeal.

"I did it!" she raised her fists to the sky.

"Sure," Dean said, staring up at her. "But I didn't shriek when I did it."

"Let's do it again," Annie said eagerly. "Beating you up is fun."

He gave her a tight smile and gave her a taste of her own medicine, hooking a leg underneath her to bring her down on top of him.

Breathless, she stared down at him, her hair falling over them both like a curtain so everything was blocked out except his face looking up at her. She was practically straddling him and knew the smart thing to do would be to get off of him but Annie wasn't feeling particularly smart.

She did get off of him though.

But only because he flipped her onto her back. Now he was staring down at her.

"What…?" Annie asked, the question coming out decidedly breathy. _He's going to kiss me again. He'sgoingtokissmeandIwanthimtokissmeandhe'sgoingtokissme._

Annie licked her lips.

Dean jerked back and blinked, as if snapping out of a daze. Without a word, he got to his feet and stormed towards the car.

WHAT? Annie's happy place demanded. She sat up and stared at him as he slid into the driver's side and started the car again. He didn't look at her. Just sat and waited for her to get in.

"Son of a bitch," she whispered in disbelief as she stomped towards the car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Annie could barely look at Dean when she got back into the car. Humiliated, furious and turned on to hell. "Three days. If one of us is still alive before we get to Seattle it'll be a miracle," she grumbled, staring out the window. "A sane person would take a plane but noooooooo. Mr Tough Guy is afraid to fly."

"You want to take a plane. Be my guest. It's probably safer for you considering that if you don't shut your pie hole, I will throw you out the window," Dean snapped, gripping the steering wheel.

Annie stared at him. "What the hell crawled up your ass?" If anyone should be upset it was her! For the second time she had practically thrown herself at him and for the second time he had rejected her.

Dean ignored her question, but his jaw tightened before he spoke again. "Sam left his laptop under the seat. Check the Seattle newspapers for any stories on the dead babies."

She bit her lip to stop herself from automatically telling him to go stuff it and decided to diffuse the tension between them before they had another blow up. Focus on business, nothing personal. She reached down and pulled the laptop onto her lap, switching it on.

After a few minutes of blessed silence, Annie dared to engage Dean in conversation again. " 'kay. We have 3 babies, all less than a year old. Police have no suspects and there doesn't seem to be any connection between the families. Babies were being watched by a nanny when they were snatched. But each family used a different company and the nanny always turned up dead a few weeks after the babies were found."

"So we have dead babies and dead nannies?" Dean asked.

"Yep. So that throws the Rebecca DeMornay theory out the window. That's where the cops looked first."

"What's that thing where they would leave sick babies on the top of a mountain to die?" Dean asked.

"A changeling? The legend goes that parents believed because they actually had the nerve to love their babies and lavish affection on them, taking pride in how beautiful they were when the baby would get sick or develop any kind of deformity they believed that the fairies punished them by replacing their baby with a sick baby. The parents took the kid up to a hill top and left it there, hoping the fairies would give them back their healthy baby. But none of these babies showed any signs of illness or anything before they were taken, or at least these don't mention any."

"Okay, so that's not it. Are the kids all boys or girls?"

"Girls," Annie replied after glancing at the stories again.

"Hmm. Any marks on the bodies?"

"Not according to these, but the cops could be keeping that out of the press, you know? Keep the wackos at bay."

"So first thing we do. Get a look at those bodies,"

Annie grimaced. "Baby corpses? Can't we just ask the parents or something?"

"Sure, but we don't want word getting out to the cops that we're sniffing around," Dean pointed out and Annie had to concede he was right. She was again reminded that he'd been at this job much longer than she had and ego aside; the guy knew what he was doing.

"Right. It just seems…" she visibly shuddered. "sacrilegious to poke at dead babies."

"I promise, no poking. It's not like we're going to be dissecting them. They're not frogs." He tossed her a mocking smile.

Annie rolled her eyes. "Geez. Release a couple of frogs from the science lab and have them accidentally make their way into the other classes and people never let you live it down,"

"Hey, I got to go home early. I was happy," Dean said with a laugh.

Annie bit back a smile. "You got to skip an algebra test. I got three weeks detention."

"Yeah but you fought the power," Dean raised his fist with a snort.

This time she did smile, warmed by the considerably more genial atmosphere. As long as they didn't poke at old wounds and kept themselves focused on the job, Annie hoped they could keep the tenuous truce between them going.

They drove for a few more hours before they picked up something to eat for dinner and Dean suggested they get a place to crash for the night.

Annie swallowed as he turned at the next exit that advertised a motel. Bad things happened between them at motels, Annie mused silently. Bad things. Good things. Hot things.

No Sam this time. Dear God, please let them get separate rooms.

"We'd like a room please," Dean announced walking up to the desk.

A room. One. Of course, how could she forget what a cheapskate Dean was?

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Annie whispered as the middle aged woman turned to get their key.

He looked at her, but didn't answer. He picked up the pen and signed in the register book.

"Mr. and Mrs. Clinton?" Annie asked with a snort.

He clenched his fist and raised his thumb as he led her out to their room. "I did not have sexual relations…"

One bed. Annie held in a groan of dismay. "Dean-"

"You need to relax. Look, we've got a shower, microwave oven, all the comforts of home. As hungry as I am, that shower is callin' my name, so you go on and dig in."

Dean wet and naked. Annie decided God really must be a man to torture her like this. She turned to the burgers in the paper bag. "Whoa!" she said, pulling her face away from the over powering stench of onions. "Did you order a side of beef with your onions?"

"I only have your best interests at heart," he pointed out before disappearing into the bathroom.

She turned the T.V on loud so she could block out the sound of the shower and what the water was being sprayed on. He hadn't even kissed her this time and she was a mess of nerves. Dammit she did not want a repeat of their scene in the other motel. She did not! Damn Sam for not being here.

Her jump back into demon hunting was temporary, Annie reminded herself. Then it was back to her normal, safe life. Demon hunting was Dean's life. He thrived on the excitement and would never think of giving it up even if John let him. Giving into this urge to scratch her itch would only bring heart ache to her. She was trying so hard to keep the peace between them and sex would certain fuck that up in more ways than one.

He came out in a black wife beater and sweat pants, his hair still slightly damp and smelling clean with soap and that lingering leather earthy smell that was his alone.

_Oh come on!_ Annie screamed silently. She cleared her throat and picked up his burger. "Your heart attack awaits. Oh, and look what else I found." She reached across the bed and picked up the deck of cards. "Gin? Black Jack? Go Fish? Feeling lucky, Winchester?" She grabbed her clothes and went to take her own shower, tossing the packet of cards in his lap.

Coming out in a white t-shirt and pink satin pajama bottoms, forgoing the sexier nightwear in her bag, she watched him take his last bite.

He grabbed the burger and took a big bite, groaning in pleasure. "Hit the damn spot but good. Mm!" He grabbed his beer can and took a last long swig.

"Seriously, you can't keep eating this crap on the road. Next motel we hit, we're getting one with a kitchenette and we're eating something that isn't capable of running your car."

"Since when can you cook?" Dean asked. "Last time I remember you cooking, we were on that scarecrow job and you concocted this god awful thing with peas and whipped fish that if I remember right, tasted like feet."

"I'll have you know, I'm an excellent cook. I learned when Jack and I were liv-" she bit her lip when his face darkened.

He cleared his throat and picked up the cards. "Poker?

"Not on your life. You always cheat at poker 'cause you know I can beat your ass."

"Someone's been taking her delusional pills,"

"What are you watching?" Annie asked. She cocked an eyebrow at him when she recognized Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. "Uh huh. So, has the interrogation scene come on yet?"

"Really, Annie. There's more to the film than that,"

"I will give you a hundred dollars right now if you can tell me the plot."

Dean stopped, appearing to think about it and then smiled at her.

"Right," she grabbed the remote and changed the channel.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Annie woke up pressed flush against the front of Dean's body, her face buried in the warmth of his bare chest. She inhaled his scent and gave herself a beat to enjoy the heavy secure feel of his arm draped over her waist. She inched away reluctantly, wondering how they had gone from sleeping back to back on either side of the bed to being practically on top of each other. She turned slowly, careful not to wake up as she tried to ease her way out of his grasp. His arm shifted upward with her movement and his hand came against her right breast. With a sleepy groan, his fingers cupped her and drew her back against him. Annie's nerves jumped and she practically sizzled when his palm grazed her nipple.

And then there was the lower half of his body which was now pressed very insistently against her butt. It was hard to be grateful that women didn't have to deal with these specific morning reactions when the specific 'reaction' now pressing against her was coming from someone to which she seemed to have a hormonal gravitational pull the size of Texas.

"Hmmmmm," he murmured; shifting his body so that he was practically rubbing against her.

Annie whimpered. She had to get out of this bed RFN!.

With less finesse than she would have liked, Annie bolted out of the bed.

Dean jumped up like he'd been shot and reached under his pillow, pulling out a curved blade. "Whahappen?" he demanded, looking around the dim room for the danger.

Annie stared at him, wide eyed. "You sleep with a butcher knife under your pillow?"

The wary alertness left his eyes and he sat back on the heels of his feet. "You nearly gave me a fucking coronary, woman! Was there any particular reason?"

"Who sleeps with a butcher knife under their pillow?" Annie asked, still shocked at the utter lack of normalcy in the man's life.

"Christ," Dean rubbed the last remnants of sleep from his face and stretched, arching his back with a long yawn. " 'time is it?" he asked.

"About seven. We'd better get a move on if we want to make any progress today before we have to bunk down again,"

"Seven in the morning? Good lord. I'm going back to sleep," he fell back against the pillow and closed his eyes.

"No you're not," Annie grabbed his arm and tried to pull him into an upright position. "You're going to get dressed and we're hitting the road."

Her cell phone rang and Annie reached across Dean's body, her breasts getting a little too reacquainted with him, to the night table where she picked it up.

"Sammy!" Annie smiled in greeting after seeing his name on the cell window. "Have you found dad yet?"

Dean watched her end of the conversation expectantly.

"Nah, we missed the last bus and the next one doesn't pull out for another hour," Sam explained, his voice groggy.

"What? So you mean you're still in the bus station? You spent the whole night there? Oh geez, that doesn't sound fun."

"It wasn't, trust me. But at least I had company. There's this girl. Meg. We met up when I was waiting to hitch a ride to the bus station."

"You hitch hiked?" Annie chastised. "Sam, what if some crazy lunatic picked you up?"

"I'm pretty sure I could have held my own, Mom," Sam teased. "So have you killed Dean, yet? I'm not hearing him in the background."

"He's pretending to go back to sleep," Annie kicked at his blanketed form. All she got was a grunt in reply. "Oh and let me just say, you owe me huge for leaving me behind with this jack ass,"

"Bitch," Dean mumbled into his pillow.

"What's that, Dean? You want me to tell Sam that you're sorry for being an ass and if he comes back you promise to be nicer to him from now on…and you'll even let him drive the Impala?"

Sam laughed in her ear.

"Double Bitch," Dean added sitting up and reaching for the phone. "Give me that," he pulled it out of her hand and Annie left him to talk to Sam as she grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom to get ready to leave.

"So did you and Sam make nice or were you, well…you?" Annie asked with a mocking grin.

"Shut up," Dean drawled taking her place in the bathroom.

Annie took that as a sign that they had made up and felt relieved.

She insisted on paying for their next stay at a motel. Twin beds and a kitchenette. She pulled a zucchini out of one of her shopping bags, happy to have found a small grocery store before they checked in to the motel. "Look Dean, this is what we call a vegetable."

"You wanna know what you can do with your vegetable?" Dean asked with a smile before looking through the bag for something more to his liking. He gasped. "Is this-"

"It is," Annie replied proudly.

Dean held the plastic tray of drumsticks like it was the Holy Grail.

"My God, it's like watching porn," Dean said watching her as she seasoned the drumsticks and stirred the sauce pan of boiling rice.

Annie blushed to the roots of her hair but didn't turn around. Jack had liked to watch her cook too. "So, did Sam have any ideas on the case?"

"He's thinking we should look closer at the nannies. There's gotta be some connection there considering they all ended up dead too. Did you get ice cream?"

"Nope, sorry. I figured you had enough crap in you for one day."

"Fine. Fine. I can deal. Is it done yet? I'm starving."

"They're gonna put that one your tombstone. Oh and by the way, since I'm cooking tonight, I get the remote,"

Dean's face fell. "Crap, you're gonna make us watch Days Of Our Lives or something aren't you?"

"Firstly, it's eight at night. Secondly, I seem to remember someone who once had the hots for Deidre Hall,"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I was thirteen. At that age Betty White is hot."

"Well, nice to know your tastes have matured to young bimbos and bubble heads," Annie said with a snort.

She watched Dean as she sat on her bed and he sat on his, safely divided from her, his plate of food on his lap.

He shovelled the first forkful of rice into his mouth and closed his eyes. "Oh God. I think I just came."

"TMI, Dean," Annie whined trying to fight a smile.

He picked up a drumstick and bit into it. He smiled at her. "I think I owe you an apology. You can come on every hunt from now on,"

Annie snorted. "Uh huh." She grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

"Oh God…" Dean groaned when Annie gasped in glee when she spotted Leonardo Di Caprio drawing his Rose. "I need more beer."

Towards the end of the movie, Dean pulled the last Kleenex out of the box and handed it to Annie who blew her nose loudly and sniffled. She looked over at Dean who was shaking his head.

"Explain to me again how this movie is supposed to be romantic?"

"Are you kidding me? He died for her and with his dying breath he had no regrets. Jack was happy that he was able to meet someone like her even though in the end he knew he was going to die."

"The bitch let him die! She gets off her lifeboat which, hello? In this day and age, trying finding a woman who doesn't bitch about the toilet seat never mind being willing to die with you and as he's freezing to death in the ocean, she can't scooch over two inches to give him some room on the stupid raft? That mother was huge! Five people could have fit on there," Dean pointed out.

"Ugh, you're just a stupid boy, what do you know?" Annie asked giving up.

"Okay, can we please change the channel now before Chalkboard Dion starts singing?"

"Right, and AC/DC's claim to fame is perfect pitch."

"Whoa!" Dean warned holding up his hands. "Too far, Annie.

"Some more zucchini covered in cheese?" Annie asked handing him the plate as a peace offering having learned that the best way to get vegetables in anyone was to smother it in cheese of any kind.

She woke up screaming, the nightmare fading to the far reaches of her mind so that while Dean was shaking her awake, Annie couldn't grasp the images that had horrified her so thoroughly.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, climbing onto her bed.

In reply she threw her arms around him and held on tight, hoping that whatever she had dreamt of stayed far away. Her chest hurt, her heart was racing so fast and she was having a hard time breathing.

"Easy. It's okay. Easy. I've got you," Dean promised holding her while she shook violently.

"Don't let go. Please. I…I…can't…breathe…" Annie choked suffocating under the terrifying oppressive darkness. She could barely make out Dean but his grip on her was like steel and she held onto him for dear life.

Dean rubbed her back slowly and murmured gently in her ear. "You're okay. Take it easy. Everything's okay…apart from the whole demon hunting part of our lives," he added, getting the desired result when she gave a small shaky laugh. He reached over and turned the lamp on and Annie started to calm down.

Taking deeper breaths, she pulled back and wiped her damp cheeks.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dean asked.

"No," Annie said, the word catching on a sob. "I can't. I don't remember it."

Dean cupped her face and the concern on his face turned to fear when his eyes raced to her forehead. "Christ, you're bleeding."

"What?" Annie asked raising her fingers to her forehead and realizing that she was indeed bleeding.

Dean looked around for Kleenex but Annie reminded him that there was none left. He went into the bathroom to get a towel and she followed him, wanting to see the bleeding for herself in the mirror.

They were like tiny pricks along her forehead. "The crown of thorns," Annie explained, raising trembling fingers to her forehead.

"Fuck me," Dean groaned pushing her against the sink and wiping away at the blood that was starting to drip down into her eyes. "A new wound? What the hell does that mean? We're calling that priest guy of yours in the morning."

Annie couldn't speak. Another wound. Oh God. It was bad enough accepting the stigmata as an annoying but present part of her life but now she had to deal with a new wound? "My God, Dean. What if I get all of them?"

"What's left? The one in the side and the feet? You know what, never mind. We're not gonna think about that? We're not gonna worry about stuff that hasn't happened yet. Let's just get you cleaned up."

"We?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, 'we'. You're not dealing with this alone no matter how much you piss me off," he promised her.

She wanted to come up with some great sassy comment but all she could do was hold onto him again, grateful.

"You wanna try getting some more sleep?" Dean asked as they walked back to the beds.

"No, I don't think I could. I think I remember what I dreamt now." She shuddered as the images swamped her. She sat on her bed and picked at the blanket. "It was you."

"What was me?" Dean asked sitting on the side, his feet on the floor in front of her.

"The demon. He…had you and he was going to kill you and I was stuck in this room looking out the window watching it and I couldn't get to you…I couldn't…" Annie buried her face in her hands.

Dean reached over and pushed her hands down. "Look at me, Annie. Hey. I'm not going anywhere. We're gonna kill that demon and he's not taking one more fucking thing away from us, okay? I promise." He cupped her face in his hands. "You believe me?"

Annie took a deep breath and struggled to put her faith in his words. Slowly she nodded.

"That's my girl," Dean smiled, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Then she moved her head up and her lips accidentally brushed his.

They both froze for a second and then Annie grabbed his shoulders and gave in, not wanting to risk him pulling back again.

She felt as if she'd been jolted with a thousand volts of electricity as he deepened the kiss. He took a deep breath as if he was trying to inhale her and slid his tongue into her mouth while his fingers gripped her hair. She whimpered, tightening her grip on his shoulders.

He broke the kiss for an instant. "Annie, you can't keep-"

"Don't stop," she pleaded searching out his mouth again.

He groaned and released her face, his hands moving down to her shoulders. She pulled him towards her, pulling him on top of her as she moved backwards.

His mouth moved to her neck, his lips and tongue playing havoc with the sensitive skin along the column of her throat before nipping at her earlobe with his teeth. His blue eyes burned into hers as he watched her reaction as he pressed between her thighs, hard and insistent.

"Please…" she sighed, nibbling at his lips and raising her hips. One hand moved down between her legs and inside her panties. He swore when he found her wet and hot. She jumped against him when he pressed one long finger against the swollen nub of flesh, stroking in a slow torturous rhythm before pulling the strap of her tank top down, capturing one breast against his mouth. "Ahhhhhh," Annie moaned.

"Annie…." Dean murmured, before suckling her. "So fucking beautiful,"

Her nerves climbed higher as he stroked her. She was anxious to touch him, desperately wanting him inside of her when she came. She pushed her hand past the waist band of his sweatpants and felt him hard and thick against her hand. Touching him, stroking him in the same rhythm as he was using on her, Annie met his tongue with her own, drowning in the taste of him. If he wasn't pinning her down, Annie was certain she would have floated off the bed. The entire room seemed to disappear as his finger eased inside of her, mimicking what she really wanted, what she ached for. She rolled her hips, begging, pleading.

His features tightened as he hovered over her.

"Please, Dean….Oh God….I'm so….I want you inside. Don't stop…" Annie shivered, as he pushed in a second finger, the world around them becoming a hazy, hot blur.

He grazed her bared nipple with his teeth and pumped steadily with her fingers, pulling back to watch her. Annie looked up at him, biting her lip as she hovered on the edge. He pulled his fingers out and eased her panties down to her ankles.

Annie kicked one foot free and cradled him with her hips. A strange sound was hovering around the edges of her mind but she tried to ignore it. Dean pulled her tank top up over her head and pulled his own top off and Annie nearly came at the feel of her bare skin again his. His skin was hot like a furnace against her and she shook with anticipation as he rubbed himself against her, readying her for him. Oh God she was ready, Annie whimpered silently. She was so ready.

He froze above her when the she'd been trying so desperately to ignore became more recognizable.

The phone.

"Don't answer," she begged, raising her hips to slide along the hot burning steel that was so swollen and greedy for her.

"Fuck…Oh fuck…." Dean swore kissing her one last time, moving his hips, his body at war with that damned phone. But he pulled back and angrily answered it. Throwing her an apologetic glance as he covered himself with the blanket.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Dean's face went pale as he listened to whoever was on the other end and for a second Annie wondered if it was John. "Cassie?"

Annie opened her mouth in surprise. Who the fuck was Cassie and why was she calling Dean at- Annie turned to look at the clock on the wall- three in the morning?

"Are you sure? The nanny said she was sleeping? Cassie. Cassie, listen to me. You need to calm down. You can only help her by keeping your cool, alright? Where is the nanny now? You don't know. Yeah. Yeah. We're actually on our way there to get to the bottom of it. Right. No. I…wasn't sleeping," Dean's eyes met hers and she watched his cheeks regain some of their color. "Don't worry about it. We're leaving now."

Annie stared at him as he got up off the bed, pulled on his boxers and jeans, groaning a bit at his obvious unsatisfied physical condition and threw the phone on his bed.

"Dean-" She didn't know what she was supposed to be feeling. There was the obvious, high strung, sizzle and throb of the orgasm-that-never-was; pure, angry jealousy at this strange woman named Cassie who obviously meant something to Dean if she would turn to him in her time of obvious need and sympathy that apparently this Cassie was a victim of whatever was taking and killing innocent children.

"Get dressed. We're leaving," he snapped and disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Now she felt shame. As she straightened her clothes, her skin still slightly moist in the places his mouth had been mere seconds before, Annie blinked back the burning in her eyes, refusing to cry. He obviously regretted what had almost happened. "God, you stupid bitch, when are you gonna learn?' Annie whispered to herself, wiping away the stubborn tears. She was determined that when he came back out, he wouldn't see her crying. Fuck him! She pulled her hair back, trying to ignore the memory of his hands gripping her hair.

And the other places his hands had been. She took a deep shaky breath and hearing the water running in the bathroom, gave herself a last assessing glance from head to toe and grabbed her jacket.

He came out, not meeting her eyes and dug his care keys out of his pocket.

"So…um, Cassie? She an old friend?"

"Yeah," he replied curtly. "Her daughter's missing. Same deal with the nanny. We'd better go."

"Dean-" Annie wasn't sure what she wanted to say but he cut her off quickly.

"Forget it. Lost control there. Won't happen again."

Annie felt the knife in her heart twist just that little bit more. "Gotcha."

He wouldn't look at her as he drove which was fine with Annie. She stared out the window after hanging up on Father Bamber, having informed him of the appearance of another wound. He told her he would pray for her and was going to speak with his bishop for advice on what they should do next. What Annie wanted to know most was how to get rid of it, but the young priest didn't think the stigmata would leave her. God obviously had a plan for her.

"Dean," she began tentatively.

"Mm?" he asked, his eyes on the road.

"Do you know if…Well, did John ever mention to you if my mom had this too?" She raised her wrists.

"Annie-" Dean warned, risking a glance at her.

"Please, Dean," she pressed warily, her face flushing as she remembered how shamelessly she had said those very words to him just a few hours ago.

He sighed and rubbed his jaw. "Yeah. Okay. He was always watching to see if you should any signs of it 'cause you're right, your mom had it too. I don't know exactly which one she had or what but-"

"Maybe she had all five?" Annie wondered, biting her lower lip. "Maybe that's what finally killed her and now I have it too so that me-"

"Hey, you listen to me, you are not going to die, do you hear me?" he practically shouted at her, making her jump in her seat. "We'll figure out a way to stop it. And for the record, no, the stigmata didn't kill your mother."

"You know that for sure? So you know how she did die?" Annie latched on to that piece of information and pressed him for more.

"Annie, don't. I don't know how exactly she died. Dad never went into detail-"

"With his golden boy? I'm shocked," Annie replied tightly.

"Don't start," he warned.

"So how do you know for sure that it wasn't the stigmata that killed her?"

"What Annie? You don't have enough nightmares as it is?"

"I need to know, Dean,"

"Why? What possible good could come from knowing the exact way your mother died? You'd satisfy your curiosity and then what? It would eat you up inside because you would wish there was some way you could have stopped it. That if maybe you had been older, stronger, you could have kept her alive. Don't put yourself through that."

"Like you do?" Annie asked softly, watching the play of angry despair on his face.

Dean shrugged but said nothing.

Annie's heart broke a little more, but this time for him. She wanted to reach out and put her hand over his in comfort on the steering wheel but she held them tight in her lap. Things seemed to explode between them whenever they touched each other. Then she straightened in her seat as something galling occurred to her.

"Dean,"

"God, you're like a pit-bull, woman! Let it go,"

"No, not that. Cassie," Annie said slowly, realization starting to dawn. "How did she know to call you?"

He cleared his throat but didn't answer.

"She knows? She knows what you do? The demon hunting? All that? You…"

Stubborn silence on his end.

"Oh wow." Annie shook her head in disbelief. "Un-be-fucking-livable. Just like that?"

"Yeah," he said simply with a shrug that made her want to deck him.

Annie swallowed down her disappointment and cleared her throat before trusting herself to speak. "You must have really…trusted her, loved her even to share that part of who you are with her."

"What? Jack didn't know?" Dean asked her.

She didn't know if he meant it to be cruel or not but it still felt as if he'd slapped her. "You're a son of a bitch."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_She's beautiful, _Annie thought when the young black woman opened the door. Waves of black hair framed her face and made her worried brown eyes seem even bigger. Annie averted her gaze when Cassie threw her arms around Dean and held him tightly.

"Oh thank God," she whispered. "I don't know what to do. The police haven't a clue what's going on and I'm so scared that my baby is gonna die before they find her. Oh, I'm sorry, God," she said taking a deep breath and ushering them inside the small but comfy two story house. "Come in. You're Annie right?"

"Right. Nice to meet you," Annie's voice choked. She forced herself to extend her hand.

"Cassie," the other woman introduced herself. "You're…Dean's sister, right? Please, have a seat. Coffee?"

Annie forced herself to smile and not focus on just how much Dean had shared with this woman. "Thanks. Uh, black, two sugars."

"Sam's not with you?" Cassie asked moving towards the kitchen.

"No, he's…working a different case," Dean explained sitting down on the brown suede couch.

"Oh. I'll be right back."

They sat in uncomfortable silence, not looking at each other and Annie could practically hear Dean counting the seconds until Cassie came back.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell her I was adopted," Annie sneered.

"I did. She was being polite," Dean explained.

"Right. I wonder if she found out before or after I did."

"After," Dean replied, standing up and walking around the room.

_Anything not to be next to her, _Annie took a deep breath and tried to push down her anger.

"Well, she…uh. She seems nice," Annie offered.

"Glad you approve," Dean said sarcastically.

"She's just not you're usual fare, you know?"

"Right, what was it you said? Bubble headed bimbos?"

"If the implants fit…"

"Careful Annie, you're starting to sound like a jealous shrew," Dean whispered walking over to her, towering over her on the couch.

"I'm gonna go see if your beloved needs any help," Annie stood up abruptly, coming up against him. She closed her eyes, trying ignore the familiar warmth of his body against hers and shoved at him so she could pass.

Luckily, Cassie chose that moment to re-appear. "Here you go. And I got a beer for myself 'cause I need something a bit stronger. Dean?" she handed him a bottle which he accepted with thanks. He took a seat in the easy chair next to the sofa.

"So what's your daughter's name?" Annie asked.

"Emily. She's about to turn a year old. This March," she added, her voice breaking.

"Where's her father?" Annie asked carefully, not sure if the man was in the picture or not. Judging by the angry flicker in Cassie's eyes, Annie guessed the latter.

"He took off as soon as the stick turned blue,"

"Charming," Dean scowled.

"Yeah, some men just aren't fit to reproduce," Annie scowled back at him. "Anyway, so there's no chance he may have had a change of heart? Does he know she's missing?"

"Yeah. The police contacted him, which I'm sure he was just thrilled about," Cassie snorted, taking a drink.

"And the nanny?" Dean asked.

Cassie lowered her head and covered her eyes with her hand. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"Hey, don't do that to yourself," Dean reached over and placed a hand on her knee.

"I should have waited to go back to work. I could have had a few months more of maternity leave if I'd wanted them but I was just going stir crazy, you know? I love her so much but I just missed working and now…"

"This isn't your fault. We're going to find out who's doing this," Annie promised.

"That's right. Now, this nanny, we need to know where you found her. Did she have references? That kind of stuff," Dean suggested.

"There was an ad in the newspaper. She…seemed so nice and she had been doing this for years. She had all these letters of recommendation. I called the families she worked for, I trusted-"

"The nannies are dying too. Can you show us the ad in the paper?" Annie asked.

After Cassie came back with the classified ad, Dean took it from her and hugged her again, rubbing her back comfortingly. "Trust me, okay? I promise we're going to get your daughter back alive. I promise you."

Annie looked away. He was so easy with Cassie, gentle while with her while nine times out of ten he was blowing up at Annie. She had to remember that, Annie told herself. He didn't care about her the way he obviously cared for Cassie. She obviously meant more to him. Annie raised her head and set her shoulders, determined not to wallow in self pity. She'd focus on the job and work with Dean on this as a professional. He didn't even want her here with him so she would make sure that she'd just forget about how he made her feel.

"Okay, so we're gonna check this place out later but first, I'm dead on my feet so we're gonna go check in-"

"Oh, pleased, don't worry about that. You could stay here," Cassie assured him, touching his arm. With a start, she seemed to remember Annie was in the room but she watched Cassie cover her embarrassment quickly. "Annie, please. There's a day bed in the nursery, I'd fall asleep there sometimes, trying to get her back down. She…" her face crumpled and Annie again felt like the worst person in the world for being jealous when the woman was going through this horrendous time. "She still wakes up at least twice and sometimes I sing to her and she has this little bear that…God, what am I gonna do, Dean?" Cassie cried turning in towards him as he took her into his arms.

He would supposedly sleep on the couch. Annie sat on the day bed, John's journal on her lap, trying to stop her heart from falling into her feet every time she heard footsteps out in the hall.

"Stop it. Stop it, Winchester…er, well not Winchester but…man that's a hard habit to break," Annie whispered to herself. Referring to herself as Winchester never really stopped and knowing she wasn't really one of them didn't seem to matter. "Anyway, stop it. You're behaving like a damn jealous fishwife and he's nothing to you and he obviously still has feelings for this Cassie person. You're just an itch to him. Keep thinking of him like that. An itch. Not important. Inconsequential. Just an itch, just an itch, just an itch." She repeated the words to herself like a mantra. "There. That's better," she said, feeling stronger. Until the next sound outside in the hall sent her whole body into freeze mode. She forced herself to concentrate on the journal and came across a legend that made her body go cold for a very different reason.

She made her way down the stairs, hoping with all her might that she'd find Dean sleeping on the couch. But the closer she got and didn't hear his familiar snoring, the heavier her heart felt. She told herself to turn around and go back and try to capture the last few hours of sleep before they had to get back to work.

Dean wasn't on the couch. His blanket was rumpled and his pillow had fallen on the floor. But he wasn't there. Annie gripped the edge of the sofa, thinking she was going to be sick. Then she saw the light on in the kitchen and she followed it to find Dean leaning against the counter, drinking from a glass of water. Relief made her dizzy and she leaned against the doorway.

"Hey. Can't sleep?" Dean asked.

"Uh, no," she tried to bite back a smile but the confused look on Dean's face told her it wasn't working so well so she held up the journal and pretended that it was the reason. "I think I might have an idea what's killing all those babies."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Okay, I found this clip in the journal." Annie turned the journal around and handed it to Dean for him to read. She hopped up on the grey speckled Formica counter. "According to historian Raymond T. McNally who wrote _Dracula was a Woman_, based on Hungarian Countess Erzebet Bathory, born in 1560, she slapped a servant girl, got blood on her hand, and believed that it made her skin look younger. To restore her beauty, she then made a practice of bathing in the blood of virgins and having girls lick her dry. By some accounts, she drank the blood herself," Dean looked up at her. "Besides the whole girls licking her dry thing being disturbingly hot, I don't see the connection."

"Look at the other clips," Annie said, biting her thumbnail.

"These go back at least two hundred years, young women, children-"

"And now babies. All female and obviously virgins," Annie pointed out, feeling a little thrill at the pieces falling in place like a jigsaw puzzle.

"Because she's finding it harder to find virgins of the grown up variety?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"Society's morals have changed a lot in four hundred some-odd years," Annie agreed.

"So you think this Bathory chick is still alive?"

"It's a thought," Annie offered. "I say we do a little digging and I bet you we'll find these nannies all worked for the same person. Blood-Bath-Bathory herself."

"Let's go tell Cassie we've finally got a lead-" Dean said walking towards the stairs.

Annie grabbed his arm. "Yeah but I wouldn't mention the whole bathing in blood thing-"

"No, let's not," Dean grimaced. "In fact, I just say we leave a note and then go get breakfast. I'm starving,"

Annie sat across from him in the diner, watching the sun come up and watching Dean devour his pancakes. "How do you eat like you do and still look like you do?"

Dean raised an eyebrow, trying to look cocky through a mouthful of pancake. "And how do I look?"

Annie wasn't rising to the bait. She focused back on the laptop. "So, it looks like every place the nannies came from closed down right after the nanny was found dead."

"Well, I'd imagine dead babies would be bad for business."

"No kidding. Their last business just closed down, exactly like the one before that. I tried googling-"

"What's that? It sounds like something that your grandma would spank you for if she caught you doing it."

"I tried doing a search," Annie amended. "on the owners of each agency. No help there. But, then I thought maybe they hired out, you know and guess who hit pay dirt?" Annie asked smacking her hand down on the table, proudly. "Turns out the nannies all came from temp agencies. The daycares hired out and when I goo-searched the temp agencies, pulled up their staff lists I found one thirty year old blonde who worked as a counsellor for all three agencies." She turned the laptop over to him.

Dean was staring at her as if she'd just sprouted a second head. "Sam?" he asked, peering at her as if his brother was gonna pop out of her.

"Can I get you anything else?" The Clairol Blonde waitress asked, bending over so her perky nipples were practically level with Dean's mouth.

"No thanks, we're just waiting for my brother's boyfriend to come pick us up," Annie explained smiling sweetly.

The blonde jerked back, red faced and moved on to the next table.

"You're evil," Dean grumbled.

"You're easy," Annie shot back.

"I prefer to call it generous," Dean said.

She threw the bottom half of her muffin at him. "We'd better get moving."

With the address of Cassie's nanny's employer, they headed downtown. "You should have lost the leather jacket. They're never gonna believe we're married if you look like a thug," Annie said trying to straighten her t-shirt and look sufficiently motherly.

"You always liked this jacket," Dean whispered after a tall, pinch faced man answered the door.

"I was young and impressionable. The bad boy thing works on every girl when she's 18."

"Well you don't exactly look like Carol Brady either," Dean scowled.

"Mr. and Mrs. Winchester?" An attractive 30-ish blonde woman; elegantly attired in a short black skirt and white blouse greeted them with a white, perfect smile.

Dean grinned at her and Annie wrapped an arm around his waist to remind him why he was here.

"That's right,"

"I'm Elizabeth Bath. Please have a seat. Would you like some coffee?"

Annie almost nodded when Dean rushed in with a decline. Who knew if Ms Blood-Bath planned to drug them right off the bat, Annie realized with a jolt.

He may project a devil may care attitude but the man was always on the alert, the knowledge reassured her.

"Our little girl just turned a year old and my maternity leave is up this spring. My husband here works full time at a-"

She'd been about to say 'accountant' to annoy Dean but realized no accountant in history ever dressed in made-for-sin jeans and a leather jacket. "Biker bar," was the first thing that came to her mind.

Dean looked at her, less than thrilled.

"I'm sure we can find someone you'd be pleased with. Do you have a particular preference? All our child care providers are fully certified, respectful and reliable. We cater to many different parents. Some want those of the same faith. Some want older nannies, younger. We even offer a few vegans for those types of households."

"We're trying to raise our baby in a very moral home. You know, trying to build a strong foundation for her to be able to face the pressures of society and all its temptations. So we'd like someone who has similar values. Non smoker, no drinking, certainly no boys in the house," Annie said trying to sound appropriately prudish.

"I understand what you mean and I can completely respect that. We all wish we could keep children as pure as they are when they are infants," Elizabeth agreed, her blue eyes gleaming with a light that made Annie's stomach clench nervously.

"Do you have kids?" Dean asked.

"No, I haven't been so blessed. I suppose that's why I love my work so much. It feels good to know that I'd doing my part to keep children innocent and pure. There's an incredibly beauty in purity don't you think?"

"We are totally on the same page," Dean said with a smile.

"I'm sorry. Could you tell me where the bathroom is?" Annie asked trying to break away to get a look around the building for any hint to where Elizabeth Bath took her victims.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Annie took a quick look behind her to make sure Mr. Pinch Face was no one where around to hamper her search. She made her way downstairs to the basement, sure that the lower floor was where Bathory would have left some sign as to where she conducted her bloody business, away from the prying eyes of those above. She found nothing but a few old filing cabinets. Pulling the drawers open on a few of them, she was annoyed to find them empty. As she moved another cabinet aside, she nearly screamed as a rat scurried out from a six inch opening in the wall behind the cabinet.

She whimpered, knowing she was going to have to get down on her knees and to be able to shine the flashlight inside to see if anything was in the hole. "Next time, I get to stay behind and distract the wacko bitch," She lowered herself onto her knees and took a deep, bracing breath. She got a glimpse of the edge of what looked like a tin box before another rat shot out, brushing her wrist. She jerked back with a scream, falling on her behind. She raised her eyes to the ceiling, silently cursing herself, worried that she had only seconds before anyone who may have heard the scream would come to investigate. She tapped the wall above the hole, hoping to get rid of any other rats. When she was relatively sure that there were no more rodents inside, without giving her self time to think about it, she reached into the hole and grabbed the tin box. Opening it, she felt the bottom drop out of her stomach as she found a picture of Cassie holding her baby, some kind of wooden idol and a key. She stuck it into her purse and hurried back upstairs, stopping quickly to wash her hands.

When Annie got close to the door way to Bathory's office, the older woman had her hand on Dean's knee and was leaning over him with a winsome smile, Dean looking alternately turned on and wary. She wanted to take her purse and wack Elizabeth Bath aka Bathory over the head with it, hoping the tin edge inside would soundly bash her skull in. Annie pretended not to notice and made sure she made some noise a second before walking in.

"I was beginning to worry you may have become lost," Elizabeth said, smiling warmly.

"No, I found it." Her eyes moved to Dean who got the message loud and clear. She looked back to Elizabeth with a nod. "Thank you."

"So, I'm sure we can find someone you will be happy with. I shall go through our roster and give you a call." The woman got to her feet, signalling the end of the meeting.

Annie provided her with her cell phone number and shook Elizabeth's hand, trying not to shudder at the feel of skin that felt too normal and alive, purchased with the blood of murdered babies.

"Well, I feel violated," Dean shuddered when they got outside, running to the car when rain whipped at their faces.

"We've definitely got our girl," Annie said pulling out the rectangular gray box from her purse.

"No kidding. While you were gone, she must have said 'pure' and 'innocent' at least seven more times," Dean said rolling his eyes.

"I found this in the basement," Annie said looking down at the box and pulling it open to show him the contents. She wiped a drop of rainwater from her chin and showed him the picture of Cassie, the wooden idol and the key. "I don't know what this opens but it looks old," It was an elegantly formed iron key. The style of it seemed to date back at least to the 17th century.

"And the doll?" Dean asked taking one hand off the wheel to hold it and study it. It was about two inches high, made of a very dark wood, its body painted an off white from the neck down. It's arms were spread wide with wooden feathers painted behind it and a gold colored U shaped crown on its head with a small gold ball in the center. "Probably uses it in whatever spell she cooks up to stay forever young."

"That'd be my guess," Annie nodded. "Oh, and next time, you're going off to play with rats while I stay behind and distract the freak of nature."

Dean smiled. "Rats huh? You poor baby. Well, you newbies gotta start at the bottom,"

"Newbie? I have done this before remember," Annie reminded him curtly.

"Yeah, and if I remember it right, the last time you had to deal with rats, you cried."

"Last time the rat bit me! And you seem to forget that on top of that I had to get a damn shot too."

"Well, at least you weren't molested by the un dead," Dean tossed back with a grimace.

"Oh yeah, I noticed. You really looked like you were suffering," Annie said sarcastically.

"You think I enjoyed that?" Dean asked with a fake sniffle.

"It'll be good to finally have some good news for Cassie. I can't imagine what she must be going through," Annie said, deliberately changing the subject.

"Yeah, neither can I. It's tough watching her breaking down like that. She's usually so strong. A couple of years ago, she lost her dad to this freak ass racist ghost and as terrified as I know she was, she kept it together for her mom."

"I can see why she means a lot to you," Annie said, swallowing past the heavy lump in her throat.

Dean looked at her as if afraid to poke this particular topic. "She's one of the strongest women I know."

Annie wondered silently if he considered her a part of that group but didn't dare ask.

Cassie threw her arms around Dean and her eyes were full of gratitude and wet with tears when she looked over Dean's shoulder at Annie.

"The place is still in business and that's a good sign. It means your baby is still alive. If she wasn't, Bathory would be closing up shop. If we could find the nanny, we could get her to talk to the police but as long as she hasn't turned up dead yet, keep the faith okay?" Annie said with what she hoped was a confident smile. Cassie trusted Dean and Annie to get her daughter back. Did Dean feel this sick unease in the pit of his stomach where he wondered what if they failed?

She had fallen asleep doing research online, finding out that the figurine in the tin box was an idol of Isis, the goddess of immortality. She'd also found a spell in John's journal to send Blood Bath Bathory back to hell. When she woke up the next morning, she made her way down the hall to go downstairs and tell Dean of her findings and passed Cassie's bedroom on the way. Hearing Dean's voice on the other side of the door, Annie stopped, every nerve ending freezing with shock. She told herself that she didn't want to know if he'd spent the night there, but part of her apparently was a masochist because she forced herself downstairs to see if the couch had been slept in.

It hadn't. There was no pillow and no blanket rumpled on it to show that he had slept there at all.. Annie thought she was going to throw up. The room became blurry around the edges of her vision and she realized it was because her eyes were filling with tears. Her legs nearly gave way but she grabbed the edge of the couch and forced herself to stay upright. She had no right to care, Annie told herself. It shouldn't matter to her who Dean slept with cause God knew, they certainly had no future together. But…Oh God, it hurt. She suddenly had to leave. Annie didn't care if it was raining outside she had to get out of there right now. She simply could not stay and look at Dean's face and know that he…

She grabbed her purse and the keys to the Impala on the coffee table and ran out of the house. The rain beating against her head actually made her feel better; as if it was trying to drive the mental image of Dean and Cassie out of her brain and Dean out of her heart altogether. She sat in the Impala and choked back a sob before turning the key in the ignition.

It didn't start.

"Don't start with me, you bitch. I am not in the mood," Annie warned, sniffling and trying again, feeling the car finally come to life. She pulled out of the driveway and tore down the street. If she crashed the damned thing it would serve him right. She had no idea where she was going until she realized that she still had Erzebet Bathory's driver's license ala Elizabeth Bath that Dean had stolen out of her wallet. She would have left for work already and hopefully that meant the house was empty. Annie leaned over and popped open the glove compartment, hoping to find a gun, which she did. She looked at the gun, a nervous shudder going through her. She didn't think she would ever get used to this part of the job. It was one thing to shoot at a target but to shoot at someone who was staring back at you?

Though truth be told, as furious as she was now, if Dean was facing her, she probably would have no problem popping him one.

She parked out of sight, not happy to have to face the pouring rain (note to self: Don't move to Seattle) but not wanting to draw attention to herself either. Annie threw a quick glance over her shoulder and up and down the street and took a look at the key she had found in the box. No, it wouldn't work in the modern lock. When she was sure the coast was clear, she kneeled down and took a bobby pin out of her hair. The red lock fell forward over her left eye. Unbending it, she effectively jimmied the lock open and with a last glance around, slipped inside quickly. Pulling the gun out from behind the back of her jeans, Annie took a shaky breath and held it firmly in front of her, just in case. But thankfully there was nobody home. Looking around, she noticed the house had no personal touches at all. Beyond basic furniture there were no photos, not plants. She found no clue at all as to where Cassie's daughter might be until she got to the library. Here were rows and rows of books, most dating back hundreds of years.

"Okay, which one of you is the lever to a secret passage way, hmm? Any volunteers? 'Cause I'm kinda short on time and really don't want to pull each one of you out." Walking closer, she saw what looked like a different colored hinge joining one book case to another in the farthest corner of the room. She ran her finger over the tiny hole in the center of the hinge and pulled the key out of her jeans. "Hmm." Sliding the key into the hole she gave a short grunt of satisfaction when she turned it and felt the lock give way. "Well what do you know?" The book cases separated and Annie pulled them apart further to be able to pass in between. A black steel door stood behind it and Annie tried the key again. Opening it, Annie was nearly knocked over by a strong metallic musty scent coming from the other side. Her stomach rolled as she realized what the metallic scent could be. The gun shook in her hand as she carefully listened for any voices.

Her heart stopped when she heard a baby's gurgle. The metallic scent got stronger. Annie tilted her head slowly to try and get a look inside the room.

"Oh thank God! Thank God!" a young woman flew at her, the baby cradled close to her so that the infant got squished between them. The baby started to wail and the blonde woman pulled back.

"Are you the nanny?" Annie asked quickly

"Yes, she locked me down here! She was going to kill the baby, like she killed the others! I think that was them," the woman cried pointing to the large tub in the center of the room.

The metallic scent. _Oh God._ Annie knew she'd regret it later but she forced herself to turn and look into the tub. The room was dark, making the liquid look black but she could tell that the bathtub was half filled with blood. Annie grabbed the wall, afraid she was going to faint. Luckily she didn't. Her stomach just came up to meet her throat and she threw up in the corner. When she could trust herself to continue, she turned and grabbed the nanny's arm. "We've got to get out of here and get to the police. Right now. "

"Wait, are you sure he's not up there?" the woman asked fearfully.

"He who? She's working with someone?"

"Yeah a tall skinny guy. Long nose. He's the one that knocked me out and has been guarding me."

"Pinch Face?" Annie asked leading her towards the door way.

"Yeah. He's her goon. Where is-"

They both screamed when they came face to face with Pinch Face.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, grey eyes slanted and cold, gun aimed at Annie.

Annie raised her gun and moved her eyes briefly to the nanny. "Take the baby and go straight to the police. There's an Impala up the street. Keys are here in the back pocket of my jeans." The woman slowly pulled the keys out and clutched them in her hand.

"Oh no, Dear. I'm afraid neither one of you is going anywhere."

"You're not going to be able to get us both," Annie pointed out, trying to stop her hands from shaking but the asshole knew she was terrified and seemed to feed on it.

He smiled at her. The gesture split his pinched face so it looked more like a grimace. "No, I suppose not. Perhaps I'll just shoot her." He shifted his aim to the nanny and Annie tightened the grip on her gun.

"You shoot her, I shoot you, asshole."

"Yes, yes, of course, but see, I don't think you're going to risk me hitting the baby as well."

_Fuck! Crap! Damn! Shit!_

"Fine," Annie raised her hand and pretended to lower the gun. When she had it an inch off the floor, Pinch face lowered his guard for a second, certain he was about to get his way. Sending a prayer up to whoever was up there listening, Annie tilted the gun upwards and fired. The blast narrowly missed Pinch Face's chin, hitting the ceiling instead and sending a shower of plaster raining down on them. Taking advantage of the distraction, Annie barrelled into him, screaming at the nanny to run as she fell with the man against the tub, the blood sloshing down over them.

She fell on top of him, grabbing the arm that still held the gun and trying to slam his wrist into the floor. Annie cracked her elbow into his long pointy noise, cracking it with a satisfying crunch. But the force of it dislodged her and she fell half off of him. He used the movement to throw the rest of her off of him and flip her onto her back. His bleeding nose dripped onto her face as they both reached for the gun which he had dropped. Pinch Face nearly getting a grip on it.

A foot suddenly appeared and kicked the gun away from his fingers.

"Mornin'," a very familiar voice drawled along with the cocking of a gun.

Annie looked up and felt a rush of pure relief washed over her when her eyes met Dean's standing above them both, his gun pressed against the back of Pinch Face's head.

Pinch Face turned to look at Dean and he eased off of Annie. He reached to pull Dean's legs out from under him and Dean fired, sending a small explosion of blood splattering onto Annie. Pinch Face's dead body fell back onto Annie, crushing her beneath him. Dean pulled the body of her and gathered her into his arms.

"Are you okay?" He demanded roughly.

"I…I…" Annie was trembling so hard she was afraid to speak in case she bit her tongue.

Dean pulled back and gripped the sides of her face so hard she was afraid he was going to crush her skull. "Are you okay?" He shouted at her.

"Yes!" she screamed back at him.

He ran his hands down along her neck and shoulders, rubbing her arms and moving down to her hips and stomach, his eyes wild and frantic and it took Annie a while to realize what he was doing.

"It's not my blood. Dean! I'm not hurt. It's not my blood."

Reassured that she wasn't wounded or injured, Dean shoved her against wall. "What the fuck did you think you were doing? How could you be so Goddamned stupid? I should beat the crap out of you for being so reckless-"

"Well you were too busy fucking Cassie!" she shouted back at him.

He jerked back, and she didn't know if his face was red with fury or guilt but he grabbed her again. "Don't you ever take off like that again. Do you understand me?" His voice shook with fury.

Annie pushed against his chest but he wouldn't budge and she noticed his body was shaking as well. "Get your hands off me!" she hissed at him. "I don't take orders from you."

"Yes, you do. When we're on a job, you do. You don't go off on your own without telling anyone where you're going. You do not put yourself in danger with no one to cover your back-"

"What was I supposed to do, huh? Knock on Cassie's door and ask if I could interrupt the two of you?"

"Who I sleep with is none of your business," Dean snapped, his fingers bruising her waist.

"Good! As long as it keeps you the fuck away from me," Annie lied wanting to hurt him for confirming what she didn't want to believe.

"You're a God damned liar," Dean growled, grabbing her face and kissing her.

Liquid fire seemed to race through her veins and pool full and throbbing between her legs. Her hips moved unconsciously against the very hard bulge in his jeans.

"No!" she cried, more to herself than to Dean as she tore her mouth away.

He regained her mouth with his own, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth. She could feel herself drowning in him and knew she had to fight or he would shatter her heart into a million pieces. "I hate you!" she screamed in his face, raising her hand to slap him. He caught her wrist and slammed it hard above her head.

"As much I hate you," Dean panted against her face, his eyes burning hungrily as he reached down with his free hand and undid the button of her jeans, pulling her zipper down.

Even as she grew wet, she still tried to resist what her body craved. Her head moved forward in a pitiful attempt at head butting him.

He moved quickly out of her path and she felt his hand working between them, undoing his own jeans.

"Don't…Dean…Don't," she begged even as she dug her nails into his shoulders, over the leather jacket.

"Don't stop?" he growled capturing her mouth and moving her legs apart with his foot.

He didn't wait this time. He met her gaze with his own, pressing his forehead against hers and pushed into her body with one hard, full stroke.

The shock of him finally inside of her sent her over the edge and Annie closed her eyes and bit his jacket, catching the side of his neck in her passion to muffle her scream.

Dean's eyes drifted closed and a pained expression tightened his face as he pulled out slightly and then shoved back in, increasing his rhythm. His hips snapped fast against her as he moved, deeper and harder, riding her through one orgasm to the very edge of another, biting her lower lip and moving down to nip at her neck. He released her hand and she lowered it to grab his head, pulling him closer. She felt him swell inside of her and then he swore, pushing against her one last time before she felt the warm gush of his orgasm fill her and he collapsed against her, both of them stunned stupid at the final line they had just crossed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Dean was panting hard against her neck, and Annie seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. She whimpered when she felt him pull out of her body. He reached down and straightened his clothes, then did the same for her. She felt as if she was somewhere outside her body, looking down and mentally bitch slapping both of them. Good God. What had they just done?

"Did I hurt you?" he asked looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. His eyes flickered with concern and Annie imagined her wet, dishevelled, wide eyed state painted quite a picture.

"Um…I…No," she stammered. She was staring at his mouth, it was still wet from kissing her. Annie seemed to return back to herself as her eyes fell on the tub in the center of the room.

There was a dead man on the floor, a tub of blood in the center and Annie could still smell her own vomit in the corner.

Admittedly, she had fantasized about Dean and her having sex numerous times, but…She moved past him and looked at their surroundings. THIS was where they finally do the deed?

"So…" Dean started, rubbing his head.

"No, no. Don't start talking…Just…" Annie held up her hand and tried to make sense of everything that had happened in the past two minutes. "What the hell just happened?"

"Well, if you need me to remind you-"

"I said no talking," Annie pleaded, her voice taking on a high pitched quality she didn't recognize. "Okay, I'm gonna go…do…something," she turned away and left the room before she completely had a nervous break down.

She'd just had sex. Two minutes of the most insane, hot, rough, mind numbing sex in the history of the world.

In the bloody dungeon of a crazy immortal bitch.

With Dean.

Dean.

Dean.

"Remind me to yell at you later for taking off with my car," Dean said coming up behind her as she made her way up the stairs.

"Sure," Annie replied absently.

"We should get you cleaned up. I'm gonna call Cassie and tell her we found her baby-"

"Cassie!" Annie suddenly stopped, Dean crashed into her back. "You…and her…and then…me," Her confused mind cleared and it focused on that point. She did not understand what had just happened between them, but anger she understood and anger was the safest emotion right now. So she let it rip. Right across his jaw. Dean's head snapped back and his hand went to his face.

" 'the hell was that for?" he asked.

"I oughta clock you again for not knowing!" Annie shouted at him.

"I thought what happened was pretty good-"

"Well, nice to know I measure up to Cassie,"

"Would you stop that? What happened with Cassie had nothing to do-"

"La! Lalalalalalala!" Annie screamed covering her hands over her ears and storming away from him.

"What happened just now was just about us. You and me. I guess I got caught up 'cause you scared the shit out of me."

"Dean, of all the times I imagined that moment happening between us, not once was there a tub full of blood in the center of the bedroom!"

"How many times?" he asked a sudden smug twinkle in his blue eyes.

"What?" Annie asked not sure what he was referring to now.

"How many times did you imagine us?"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed in frustration and stormed out into the rain.

She heard him behind her but didn't turn around.

"Annie dammit. Look if you expect me to say I'm sorry-"

"Go away, Dean!"

"It's pouring in case you haven't noticed. Can we not have this fight in the car?"

"The nanny has your car, remember? Now leave me alone!" Annie screamed, shivering as the rain beat down, sliding past the collar of her t-shirt and chilling every inch of her skin. Good. She hoped it washed away every trace of Dean from her body.

"I mean Cassie's car. I borrowed it to come find you,"

"Remind me to send her a thank you card," Annie spat.

After her! Dean came and fucked her after Cassie, his one true love. She hoped with all her heart that he got pneumonia.

'Son of a bitch!" Dean swore and then there was silence behind her. She hoped he'd taken the hint and turned back but Annie should have known she wouldn't be that lucky.

Dean was still following her, only now he was in Cassie's car and he was on his cell phone. "Get in the car!"

"Fuck you!" Annie shouted.

"For Christ's sake, Annie, you look like something out of a horror movie. Get in the goddamned car and we'll find some place for you to clean up."

"Bite me," Annie ordered, not stopping. She heard the car screech to a halt behind her and then the loud slam of the door. The next thing she knew she was upside down, slung over Dean's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "What the- Are you out of your mind? Put me down!" She punched at his back.

"In a minute!" he yelled. Pulling open the passenger side and pushed her onto the seat, the side of her head smacking painfully against the top.

"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Annie swore. When he got in, she pulled on the handle to get out on her side but he grabbed her wrist.

"So help me, if you open that door, I will hogtie you and throw you in the backseat," he promised.

"What? Would that be round two?" Annie sneered.

He laughed bitterly and stepped angrily on the gas, jerking her backwards.

While Annie silently fumed, Dean explained that he had called Cassie to let her know they were stopping somewhere to get cleaned up and would return in a few hours. Cassie told him that the police wanted their statement so they should head over there first as soon as they were ready.

Annie crossed her arms over her soaked chest and stared ahead continuing to ignore him.

Until he pulled into the 'Happy Hour Motel'.

She stared at him, incredulous. "Why do you hate me so?"

"Get out of the car," Dean ordered, pulling the key out of the ignition.

"Get out of the car. Get in the car. Get out of the car. Get in the car," Annie mimicked belligerently.

The short Latin man behind the counter looked Annie up and down, his eyes widening at her bloody appearance. "Madre di Dios," he said.

"She's had a bit of an accident. We need a room for to clean up. You have laundry service, right?" Dean asked. "Single bed," he added.

Annie jerked and dug her nails into the counter, but didn't look up at him. Surely he didn't expect them to…Her body shivered again, and this time she wasn't all that sure it was from the cold damp sticking to her skin.

In his profession, the man behind the desk probably knew it was best to keep his mouth shut so he just handed Dean the key. With a hand at her back, Dean steered her to their room. "You can use the shower first."

"Such a gentleman," Annie sneered. "And what am I supposed to wear while my clothes are in the laundry?"

"They got towels in there, right?" Dean pointed out.

Freshly clean, Annie's mood improved. They had to talk about what happened though lord knew she'd rather stick needles in her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror. Good God. He'd given her hickeys and… She looked down at her hips. Bruises, dammit! She had other various scrapes and bruises from her fight with Pinched Face, but she could easily identify which had been inflicted by Dean cause she could still feel his hands there over each one, pressing into her skin.

She looked back up at her face. She looked different to herself. There was something…but she couldn't really pin point it. A different flicker in her eyes now that her desire for Dean had been fulfilled.

Fulfilled but not satisfied. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the wet mirror. Having him once, she wanted him again. And again. And again.

The knock on the door sent her heart racing.

"You okay in there?" Dean asked.

"Just surveying the damage," she admitted, trying to figure out how she was gonna walk out dressed in nothing but the towel she now wrapped around her body. Her sudden modesty made her laugh out loud. He'd just banged her up against the wall. But really, she'd been wearing more than she was now.

"Don't be such a girl, Winchester," she scolded herself, forcing herself to come out.

Annie felt a small flare of satisfaction at the heat that burned in his eyes when he took in her near naked state.

"All yours," she said.

"Excuse me?" he asked; his voice cracking.

"The shower," Anne reminded him.

When he came out she imagined her face was similar to how his had looked when he'd seen her. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing. "Down girl," she murmured, standing up and grabbing his wet clothes, she dumped it on top of hers outside the room and watched through the window as the laundry lady passed by and picked them up. Annie didn't trust herself to sit on the bed and Dean gave her an amused grin 'cause he knew it.

"You'd think now that we got that out of our system we wouldn't keep butting heads. You know that whole saying about tension and all,"

Annie looked down at the ugly navy blue carpet. "This one was my fault, and I'm sorry. Maybe it was inevitable that that would happen between us but…I was freaking out about what had just happened with Pinched Face and watching my life flash before my eyes and all that. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life and then there you were. An easy target."

"For the record, that's not how I imagined us the first time either," Dean admitted them his eyes twinkled mischievously. "One of the times, definitely. But not the first. Come over here, Annie."

"That would be a very bad idea," Annie reminded him, her heart racing. Yet she was moving towards him.

"Definitely, but I'm askin' anyway," he took her hand.

"Why?" Annie asked, already knowing the answer. Her body trembled at the feel of his fingers stroking hers.

"Round two," he said softly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Annie walked over to where Dean sat. As if she had any choice at all. He looked up at her with a small smile. "Back there. Not my finest hour. Sorry. All these years, I could deal with you hating my guts, along as you were out there and safe." His hands moved to her thighs and Annie jumped slightly at the warmth of his hands moving under the towel. "But if anything…When I saw that son of bitch on top of you. Christ, this is a bad idea," he murmured but his hands continued upward.

"You're not stopping," Annie pointed out.

"You're not stopping me," Dean countered, parting the towel so that she was bared to him, the top knot over her breasts loosening.

"No. I'm not," Annie agreed, allowing herself to touch him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I know you, you're gonna regret this later," Dean warned.

"Probably, but it's not later right now."

He leaned in and kissed her stomach, making her whimper.

_Give in, _her heart told her. Just this last time, give in to the thing that has been playing in your brain for all these years.

He looked at her thighs, running his fingers over the angry red marks on her skin where he had pulled her wet jeans down. She hadn't even noticed the pain at the time, as caught up as she was in the moment.

Dean looked up at her apologetically and curled his fingers so that his knuckles brushed her _there._

Annie bit her lip as his hands came up to undo the knot holding her towel closed around her. She caught her breath and stopped his hands, suddenly nervous.

"We can forget the whole thing if you want. Get dressed and go down to the police station now," Dean offered, though his eyes belied his words.

Annie moved his hands away and undid the knot herself. The towel fell to the floor and Dean's eyes flared hungrily.

"Christ," He grabbed her hips and jerked her forward, so close she could feel his breath right at her core.

He reached between her legs and stroked her once, making her moan and her whole body tighten pleasurably. "Now that sound you just made? That matches what's been in my head a whole lot more," he said with a grin.

She lowered her hands to cradle his head and then he was holding her and pulling her forward with him onto the bed.

_Oh God,_ this was gonna mess up everything when they came back to reality but Annie tried to silence that voice in the back of her mind that told her this would do more harm than good.

Dean cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth down on his, running his tongue along her lips to invite her to open her mouth. Annie accepted his tongue and pressed her fingers into the skin of his shoulders, pushing away all rational thought and all of the warnings.

Once more, to get it out of their system. Most likely the reality wouldn't match the fantasy she'd catered to all these years and that would tell her all she needed to know. They wouldn't work, of course they wouldn't and this would show her that cause there was no way it could be as good as she imagined.

His fingers skimmed down her back, along her spine, raising a trail of goose bumps. Annie spread her legs, feeling him swell hard through the towel and then lowered her hand to remove the towel. He stopped her.

"Easy. I'm not quite done with you yet," and then he flipped her onto her back. His weight was warm but not heavy as he held himself up just enough so that her breasts brushed his chest. She pulled on his arms to bring him closer but her simply lowered his mouth to her neck and suckled the skin, before nipping it lightly, enough for her to feel the pull of skin, but not enough to hurt. Just enough to make her arch beneath him, wanting more. His mouth moved down to her collar bone, running his tongue along the sensitive skin, making her quiver.

"Dean…" she sighed, closing her eyes.

One hand ran down to her stomach. He raised his head for a second watching her as his fingers inched lower. He smiled when Annie caught her lip between her teeth. He eased one finger inside of her and Annie gasped at the invasion. Her hips bucked, greedily. He shifted his body lower, allowing him to catch a nipple and pull it into his mouth.

"Sweet…God," Annie sighed at the hot wet pull of his mouth.

Dean alternated the rhythm of his fingers, slow then fast, driving her forward and pulling her back.

She dug her fingers into the base of his neck, her skin growing damp as blood raced through her veins.

"Please…" she murmured. "Please…"

His thumb played with the swollen damp folds between her legs, sliding and rubbing easily, pushing her higher and higher towards the peak while his tongue teased her breasts.

Her eyes focused on the ceiling, wanting to look down and watch him but unable to focus on anything other than the nearly unbearable sweetness of his hands on her body, in her body. And that mouth, that hot greedy mouth that had tormented her dreams so often. Her whole body was moving with the rhythm of his thrusting fingers, pushing down as he pushed in. As her orgasm hovered around the blurry edges of her mind, he teased her closer, her breath coming quick and shallow.

"I want to hear you scream, baby," Dean said softly.

"Oh God…" she moaned. "Please don't stop."

He stopped.

"What?" Annie demanded, eyes blazing at him in fury. "You bastard. Why did you stop?"

He laughed and lowered his head got back on her good side but adding his mouth to his fingers.

"Fuuuuuck," she moaned, falling back against the pillow.

His tongue flicked playfully but insistently as he added a third finger and pumped faster, filling her more completely.

"Oh God….Oh God…Dean,"

"That's right," he said. "Dreamed about that too. You saying my name just like that,"

Annie reached over and bit the edge of the pillow. Her nerves felt like the were popping off tiny bottle rockets under her skin, growing in intensity as they moved lower through her blood to concentrate there, where Dean's mouth and fingers were turning her brain to mush.

His touch was purposeful, determined and he didn't give up until her body bucked upward and she grabbed the sheets with her fists and plummeted over the edged with a desperate cry of his name.

Annie fell back, flushed and breathless. "Oh God…" she moaned, her heart still racing. Her orgasm was still fresh and yet she wanted more. As Dean moved up her body witch a smug grin, Annie wanted to devour him. She cupped his face and kissed him thoroughly, feeling him hard against her stomach, his towel long since coming loose.

"You're welcome," he said with a smile.

"Okay, so I was not expecting that from you," Annie admitted panting, waiting or her heart rate to slow down. Her body was still popping with tiny aftershocks.

He nuzzled her neck, biting her earlobe. "What do you mean?" he asked, catching her mouth again before pulling back and giving her a chance to answer.

"I never took you for a…well…giver," she admitted with a wry grin.

"I'm a very generous soul," he growled, covering her with his body again.

"Well then." She pushed against him until he lay on his back. "How about a little payback?"

Looking down, she noticed that he seemed to swell harder at that suggestion. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"God yes," he groaned.

"Let's see if I can make this as good as you think it would be," taking him into her hand.

"Not gonna say no to that," Dean said with a greedy smile, pushing his hips upwards so his shaft moved through her fingers.

Annie tightened her fingers, making him gasp. She loved that sound coming from him. Then she lowered her head and made the great Dean Winchester whimper.

"Motherfuck…"

His fingers were tight in her hair as he moved his hips with the rhythm of her mouth. She'd never felt degraded doing this. It made her feel powerful, desired. The sound of him being pushed to the brink, the need in his voice, the heat and taste of him in her mouth aroused Annie.

"Fuck….God….Annie…Okay….Okay…" Dean moaned trying to pull her back even as his hips thrust his shaft deeper into her mouth.

"It's alright, Dean," Annie said, pulling off him with a soft smile. "You can let go. I don't mind,"

His eyes drifted closed. "Jesus Christ." Then she was being pulled off of him and pushed onto her back. "You may not mind but that is not how this is gonna go right now,"

Her knees automatically raised on either side of him, opening herself to him in blatant, silent invitation.

"Last chance to bolt," Dean warned, hovering at her center.

"No way in hell," she assured him, capturing his face with her hands and raising her hips so that she rubbed against the head of his shaft. Her eyes met his resolutely and then they both looked down to watch him ease into her.

He filled her slowly, an inch at a time, stretching her and making her cry out softly at the fullness of him. Her eyes drifted closed as the sensation was almost too much to bear and his breath was harsh and ragged against her face. He pulled back to thrust in again but Annie stopped him.

"Wait, just…hold still for a second. Let me…feel you," she breathed, squeezing her muscles around the hard steel encased in her body. She could feel him trembling above her and his features grew with tight with restraint.

"You want me to hold still then don't do that again," he warned.

She raised her lips to his jaw, running slow, tiny kisses along his skin and dotting one on the tip of his nose before reaching his mouth. Annie moved her hips slightly, making Dean's breath come out in a rush against her face. "God…I can feel you…" she sighed. In her soul, she meant to say but the sensation swamped her too powerfully to form the words and she didn't think Dean knew what she meant cause he gave a short laugh and thrust into her more deeply. He seemed to reach all the way into that secret place she'd kept locked away since he had first touched her and rejected her.

His body moved languidly, taking his time now that the original urgency had passed. Dean seemed to be trying to make it up to her for his earlier roughness. When he looked at her and brushed a damp lock of hair from her cheek, Annie's eyes burned and she kissed him, allowing herself to revel in this rare tender moment with him.

"Annie…" he sighed shakily against her face, burying his mouth in her hair, inhaling her.

"I know," she whispered. She did know. She knew something very different was happening here. They'd agreed on sex. Just a simple, bang off the feeling fuck and yet the moment was seeming to grow deeper, running away from them and taking on this huge pulsing life that blurred everything around them so that all they could see was each other and all that mattered was giving in to this powerful thing they were generating between them. They were like two live wires coming together, burning and feeding off each other.

Annie slid her hands to his arms, feeling the flex and bunch of tight muscle over warm skin. Her thighs tightened around his hips, wanting to hold him there forever. His mouth sucked in her lower lip before sliding his tongue along hers, mimicking what he was doing to her with his body. She ran her hands down along his back, feeling the heated dampness of his skin, digging her nails in when he angled his hips, hitting a particularly sweet spot inside of her.

She was completely drunk on the taste of him. Her mind was spinning deliciously as he kissed her and slid his hands everywhere, stopping to stroke her where they were joined. She whimpered at the too sharp sensation. He gentled his strokes but didn't stop and by the feel of him growing inside of her, Annie knew he was nearing his release and wanted her to come with him.

She reached down to cup his behind and push him in deeper, her hips quickening to urge him on.

"Christ…" he whispered against her mouth, his movements starting to lose their rhythm.

She felt a tightening deep in her belly and knew she was seconds away from following him over. She bit his shoulder, the sweet tension coiling tighter inside of her as his shaft moved faster inside of her. Now they were both straining towards it, that white hot point that was hovering ahead. She didn't think Dean realized he was grabbing her hips again, his fingers digging almost painfully as he held her down, immobilizing her but the restraint seemed to intensify the sensations rushing through her. Annie buried her face in his neck, licking the warm salty damp skin and whimpering as her orgasm began in the pit of her stomach, spreading further and further up and out with each hard thrust of Dean inside of her. With a deep growl, he gave a last hard plunge into her that sent her up towards the head board and his voice roughly called her name as he spilled into her, sending her barrelling over with him as he rode her through her orgasm and his before losing his grip on her and dropping his weight onto her. Trembling, she clutched him to her, gasping for air. She could feel his heart racing against her and knew he could feel the same.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Annie sat on the edge of the window sill, the blanket wrapped around her, watching Dean sleep. The sheet was draped across his waist, his chest bare. She'd give him another ten minutes; then they had to leave. A mixed pot of emotions was simmering inside of her. What had they done? What happened now? What the hell had they been thinking?

Well, she knew the answer to that one. They hadn't been thinking at all. For once, Annie had pushed aside all her caution and doubt, closed the door on her well ordered, normal life and taken what she wanted deep down inside with both hands.

And good God, there'd been no condoms. Each time. Annie closed her eyes trying to fight off the wave of panic at the idea that she could be pregnant. She chewed her thumbnail down to the skin. Please, no, she pleaded mentally. She couldn't bear the idea of a child with someone who lived smack dab in the middle of Dangerville. Someone who, every time he went out to fight the undead, (a job he thrived on) taunted death.

And someone who didn't love her. Annie swallowed past the burning shame of that. She handed herself to him on a silver platter and let him turn her inside out when she knew that he had no intention of making any kind of commitment to her.

Even Cassie, who Annie was sure Dean actually loved, wasn't enough to make him settled down. Where was her pride? Annie lowered her head into her hands, and felt the metal of the ring on her finger. Jack's ring. "Oh dear God…" she moaned looking at the princess cut diamond baguette engagement ring.

She and Dean had…and she'd still been wearing Jack's ring on her finger. Tears filled her eyes and she stubbornly brushed them away. "Goddammit," she cursed when she noticed her wrists were starting to bleed again. "I'm so sorry."

She watched Dean begin to stir and watched him wake up. His arm swiped her side of the bed, not finding her, his eyes opened and he lifted his head.

When he turned and met her gaze, he gave her a sleepy smile that made her heart flip in her chest. "Hey,"

"Hey," she whispered back.

His smile disappeared when Annie didn't return it. He shook his head, his smile turning bitter. "Right. Back to normal, huh?"

"Dean, I-"

"Got it. Hand me my clothes and we can get out of here."

Annie bit her lip and turned to gather his clothes. "What happened was-"

"A one time thing. No big deal."

"It's not…I mean, Dean…"

He pulled his jeans up and stopped to look over at her, leaving them unbuttoned. "You're right, Annie. This is been building between us for a long time and we just needed to get it out of our system. Now we did. We had a good time and now let's get back to work, shall we?"

"Dean, wait, please," Annie begged as he pulled on his shirt and went to grab his jacket. She placed a hand on his chest to stop him. Touching him brought back too many memories and he snorted when she pulled her hand away. "When this is over, when we find John and the demon, I'm going back to my life. I'm going back to the hospital and try and get another placement. This life…it's yours, not mine."

"Obviously. Look that's fine. You're white picket fences and apple pie. Me, God save me from that insanity. So no harm, no foul. Now if we're done with this touchy feely crap, Blood Bath is still out there and we have to find her."

Annie shivered, feeling crushed under the weight of her disappointment. It was silly and stupid but she wished that he had proved her wrong. That he would give up hunting for her. Of course he wouldn't. Hunting was too much a part of his make up.

"Did Cassie ever ask you to, well-"

Dean sighed. "Look Annie, about me and Cassie-"

She held up her hand. "No, forget it. Forget I asked."

"No, there's something you need to understand. What happened this morning-"

"Oh, no. I wasn't even referring to-"

"Yeah, I know but look, Cassie and I. Well, she was going through a rough time and she and I…"

Annie shook her head. "I understand. Really." God, she did. And God did it hurt.

That's what they did. They hurt each other. If that wasn't proof they had didn't belong together.

"So, we're okay?" Dean asked cautiously pulling open the door and walking out.

"Um. There's just one teeny tiny thing," Annie hedged nervously, following him.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"We kinda forgot something,"

Dean stopped, going still as stone and then whirling around. "Fuck me," he swore.

"That's kind of what I mean," Annie pointed out sheepishly.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the string of three foil packets. "Well, it was nice of the laundry lady to empty the pockets before she washed our clothes. "Jesus Christ," he leaned against Cassie's car, his face deathly pale. "Any chance…you know, time wise, you wouldn't-"

"Are you serious? Maybe you should go back to the nineteen fifties when that method of birth control was last used! Come on, Dean!"

"Well, it works sometimes, doesn't it? You count off your days and ugh-" he shuddered. "I can't believe I'm talking about menstrual cycles."

"Very apple pie of you," Annie couldn't resist.

He glared at her. "Please just take my gun and shoot me now."

"I call rain check," Annie said.

They drove to the police station, silently resolving not to talk about 'it' until they could know for sure one way or the other. Dean demanded that she pick up a pregnancy test at the pharmacy on their way even though Annie insisted it was much too early to know one way or the other.

"Are you kidding? With our luck, that stupid stick will probably turn blue before you even pee on it," Dean grumbled.

Annie scowled at him. Okay, so she sure as hell didn't want to be pregnant either but did he have to sound like such an ass about it? "You know, pregnancy isn't the only thing I have to worry about. You're not exactly discriminating with your charms,"

"Are you calling me a man whore?" Dean asked, cocking an eye brow as the pulled into the police station.

"What was the last name of the last woman you had sex with?" Annie demanded.

He smiled at that.

"Before me, Smart ass," she insisted rolling her eyes. "And before you even try it, before Cassie."

He looked sheepishly blank at that.

After giving their statements to the police, with some creative tweaking on Dean's part over who exactly Elizabeth Bath was, the police let them go. Dean ordered Cassie to go to her mother's while Bathory was still on the loose.

"Where do you think she'll show up?" Annie asked, a cold finger of fear sliding down her spine.

"Well, she knows the police are after her and she's knows we're on to her. My guess is she'll probably come after us."

"So what's the plan?" Annie asked, not liking the gleam in his eyes as he drove, happily reunited with his beloved car.

"We let her."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"I don't know what's worse, the waiting or having her actually show up," Annie said, unable to stop trembling even if she stubbornly tried to still her body. She wrapped her arms around herself as she sat on the couch, looking at the guns spread out on the coffee table. Dean sat in the easy chair, efficiently cleaning the weapons and loading them. The work seemed to calm him, if he was feeling any fear at all.

"The waiting," Dean assured her. "When the shit hits the fan, you'll just go into automatic pilot and get the job done."

"Well, nice to know you have that kind of confidence. Myself, not so much," Annie picked up the journal and tried to concentrate on the spell that was going to rid the world of Erzebet Bathory once and for all.

"I was talking about you," Dean said, not looking up, focused on his work.

Annie looked at him in surprise. "Are we forgetting how Pinched Face almost killed me?"

"Yeah, you're rusty. But you're the one who saved that nanny and Emily. You may be a 'fraidy cat chicken but you're one of the most stupidly brave women I know."

She could feel her face heat with pleasure and she fought a smile. "Isn't that an oxymoron?"

"Sorry, left my dictionary in the car, which FYI, you ever touch my car again and I'll have to pound on you a little bit." Dean said with a smirk.

"I mean, how can I be both brave and a chicken?" Annie asked.

"Being scared doesn't mean you get a free pass. Not in our job. You did what you had to do. Now are you done fishing for compliments?" Dean asked looking at her with irritation.

Annie leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"What was that for?" Dean asked watching her warily.

"For reigning in the ass-o-meter for two seconds," she said putting the journal aside and picking up one of the guns on the table.

"You're welcome. I wouldn't count on it happening often though."

"Oh I don't," Annie agreed with a mocking smiled and continued cleaning the gun in her hand.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes until the lights began to flicker. Annie felt her stomach tighten nervously as she looked up at the ceiling and then over at Dean who had gone very still.

Small scratching sounds were coming from the second floor. "Do you thin-"

Dean raised a finger to his lips and whispered. "Keep your voice down and from here on in, you follow my lead. No arguments, no attitude. Got it?"

Annie was too scared to disagree so she nodded quickly. She stuck John's journal in the waist band of her jeans and gripped the rifle in her hand, trying not to shake with it so when she needed to fire it, she could shoot it straight.

They climbed quietly and carefully to the second floor. Her mouth was dry and Annie looked down in nervous dismay when she felt the familiar sting in wrists signalling the return of the bleeding.

"Shit," she complained.

Dean turned and looked down at her hands. "Crap. Worst timing ever,"

"You're telling me,"

"Can't you stop it?" Dean whispered furiously.

"Uh, can you remove the stressful situation?" Annie countered.

Once on the second floor, they heard scratching noises coming from downstairs.

"Who is that?" Annie asked turning around.

"Damn, if those are the cops, I'm gonna shoot one on principal," Dean promised.

"They probably figured she might try and get Emily back,"

"Well, never mind them right now," He pointed to Cassie's bedroom, the previously closed door now opened.

"Cover me," Dean ordered as he walked towards it. Annie nodded but suddenly jumped when she saw a flash of fabric woosh past her out of the corner of her eye.

She thought it was by the grace of God she didn't accidentally pull the trigger. She did scream though and that made Dean fire his gun.

"What? What the hell-"

"Something just brushed past us! I swear, I saw something out of the corner of my eye," she cried, not bothering to be quite considering Dean's gun surely had alerted whoever was in the house with them.

"What direction?" he demanded, looking behind her, shotgun at the ready.

"I…I don't know. I think it went towards the stairs,"

"Stay behind me," Dean ordered rushing towards the stairs. He stopped when they got to the top and they both listened for any further noise.

"Hello, my dear. Miss me?" a male voice asked behind her. Annie whirled around with a gasp. There stood Pinched Face. Or…no face really as he was holding a mangled mess of flesh and bone under his arm that judging from its round shape, was the aforementioned face.

Her scream was cut short when Pinched Face backhanded her sharply across the face and sent her crashing into Dean. She remembered falling backward with Dean and then no more.

When she came to Annie groaned at the burning pain in the side of her face and in the back of her head. She tried to lift her hand; sure she'd find a bump but realized with a start of cold panic that her hands were bound behind her.

She shifted on the chair and tried to turn her head. She felt fingers against her wrists. "Dean?"

No response. "Dean!" Annie took a quick look around the room. It was empty but the light was on in the kitchen. "Dean, please, please talk to me!" She hissed. "Please wake up." She jerked at the bindings, wincing as the rope cut into her skin.

A low groan came from behind her.

"Oh thank God!" Annie exclaimed breathlessly.

"Mnngh…'nnie?" he asked.

"Yeah, listen. I think they're in the kitchen-"

"My, you two are quite the little busy bodies aren't you?" Elizabeth strolled out of the kitchen, a cold smile on her face. The man previously known as Pinched Face came up behind her, still holding his head. His neck was an empty bloody stump.

"How's it going Countess Bathory?" Dean asked, turning his head to look at them.

Erzebet's eyes flashed in brief surprise but she schooled her features back to nonchalance.

"That's right. We know exactly who you are and what you were doing to all those babies," Annie hissed angrily.

"Really. Bathing in blood, Countess? That's gotta be a bit messy. You know we have Botox now," Dean cracked.

"How are you still alive?" Annie asked, trying not to throw up as she watched the man walking towards them with Bathory. "Dean killed you. I saw him kill you!"

"Oh where are my manners? Allow me to introduce you to Count Nadasdy."

"Dear God," Annie gasped, wide eyed.

"Who?" Dean asked.

"Her husband,"

"Oh my. I am impressed," Erzebet smiled. "And who says young people today don't read?"

No Face leaned over Annie but then suddenly jerked back. She grimaced when she realized her forehead was bleeding. "She's touched," he growled in an inhuman voice.

"Ah well. I suppose we'll have to speed this along then," his wife said softly. She walked towards the curtain over the front window and pulled out a box of matches.

"Wait! Wait!" Annie cried, terrified trying to turn to look at where the woman was. "You're after pure blood, right? I mean that's why you killed all those babies, right?"

"Quite right,"

"Well, this thing, my bleeding. It's the stigmata. That's as pure blood as you're gonna get,"

"What the hell are you doing?" Dean demanded, jerking her wrists.

"Buying time. Now shut up!" she whispered angrily.

Erzebet rolled her eyes. "As interesting an option as that would be. I don't think your God and I would quite mix…chemically." She touched the flame from her match to the curtain, sending the curtain up in a quick ball wall of fire.

The front door exploded in a shower of splintered wood. "Yeah, I hear Jesus frowns on BabyKillers," a familiar male voice said before blasting Erzebet Bathory with a shotgun.

"Sam?" Both Dean and Annie shouted at the same time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Oh thank God!" Annie cried. "Hurry. Cut us loose!"

"No!" Count Nadasy cried kneeling next to Erzebet who was sprawled on the floor, motionless. He then rose to his feet. "I will tear the limbs from your body before I kill you," he vowed before pouncing at Sam rushed backwards, panicked but knew enough to fire a second shot, ripping a wide hole in the center of the man's body. Nadasy fell back onto Erzebet's body. The fire had quickly spread to the doorway, effectively trapping them inside for the moment.

"Okay, now hello!" Dean insisted, motioning to their bound wrists. Sam rushed towards them, pulling a knife out of his boot and cut through their ropes.

Annie winced, her wrists now free but still bleeding. The heat from the fire was warming her back and the smoke was making her eyes water. She coughed, clean air getting harder to come by.

Dean pushed her towards the window. "Go on. We have to send them back to hell."

"What? I'm not leaving you in here! Let's just get the hell out of here and leave them to burn."

"I thought I told you not to argue with me!" Dean snapped grabbing her arm.

"The job is over. I don't have to listen to you anymore."

"Enough of your feminist crap, okay? The place is on fire. You're getting out now!" Dean yelled at her.

Annie struggled to jerk out of his grasp but he had a death grip on her arm and was pulling the window open. "How the hell are you gonna do anything without dad's journal?"

Dean took a step back and looked her over. "Don't you have it?"

"I did before they pushed out down the stairs. I don't know where it is now!" Annie cried, panicked.

"Goddammit!" Dean burst scanning the area.

"Look Dean, were never gonna find it in time. Let's just go," Sam offered, holding his jacket over his nose in a vain attempt to block out the smoke.

"We're not leaving the journal to burn," Dean insisted. "We need that thing."

Annie followed him towards the stairs. In the background, they heard the sirens signalling the fire trucks. On the one hand she was relieved. But then Dean started shouting obscenities as he searched around the stairs, not finding any sign of the journal and Annie understood. If they didn't do the spell now, Erzebet and her husband would just come back to life and continue their terror in some other city.

"I found it!" Sam shouted, pulling the leather bound book out from inside Nadasy's suit jacket.

Annie gasped in relief, but this sent the smoke down her throat in a fresh burst and a violent fit of coughing seized her.

"Okay, now get the hell out of here!" Dean ordered, pulling off his jacket and ordering Annie to hold it over her nose.

"Where is the rock salt?" she lifted the leather jacket briefly away from her face. The table that had held their guns and everything they would need was empty. She ran towards the kitchen.

"Dammit, Annie!" Dean and Sam both screamed after her. She looked frantically through the cabinets until she found what she was looking for.

"Can we improvise?" she asked, lifting the box of table salt.

""We'll have to. Okay, you got the spell, Sam?" Dean asked taking salt from her and spreading it over both prone bodies.

As Sam searched through the journal for the spell, a blast of flame surged towards them, sending all three of them to the ground. Annie landed mere inches from the bloody ball that was once Nadasy's head. She shrieked and jerked back but Dean held her down.

"Stay down," he ordered and then pulled her away from the two bodies, crawling with her until they were far enough away so that the flames consumed the bodies while Sam lay on his stomach, shouting the words of the spell that would bind their souls in hell for eternity.

When Sam finished he stuck the journal under his shirt and motioned to them to make for the kitchen before the flames moved there. The only window was over the counter so Dean helped Annie climb up and she lifted it open using a knife to tear open the screen.

"Go. Go!" Dean screamed as the flames blasted through the doorway of the kitchen. With a hard shove, he sent her out the window.

Annie hit the grass with a jarring but not painful thud. The firemen swarmed her, pulling her away from the house. She turned to see Sam climb out next. Then nothing. Sam met her gaze for one confused second then he ran back towards the house but one of the firemen tackled him to the ground as his men sprayed the house with water.

"What are you doing, son?" he demanded, not letting Sam move.

"My brother's in there!" Sam screamed.

Annie couldn't move. Dear God. It was Jack all over again. She felt herself began to sway dangerously close to unconsciousness but forced herself to stay upright. No. Please God. No.

Then she saw Dean coming out of the window in the basement.

Annie sagged with relief and would have fallen if the fireman hadn't been holding her up. The kitchen led to a set of stairs on the opposite side that led down to the laundry in the basement. As he ran away from the house, the firemen ordered them all to move back.

"The house is gonna blow!" One of them shouted and as Dean ran towards them it proceeded to do just that.

Heat and pieces of debris rained down on them and Dean skidded to a stop next to them.

As relived as she was, she knew Dean had sent Sam ahead of him and must have gotten trapped and her fear channelled itself into fury as it usually did with Dean and she stormed towards him.

But he knew what was coming and hid behind Sam.

"You son of a bitch!" Annie shouted, swinging wide trying to hit him but Sam tried to grab her arms and calm her down.

"So, not that I wasn't grateful as hell to see you show up right before we were barbecued, but how come you came back?" Annie asked Sam as Dean explained to Cassie that her house was no longer. To her credit, she took the news well, but as Annie watched Cassie clutching her baby close to her chest she figured things could have been a lot worse. Plus Cassie had her mother so they knew she'd be fine.

"I knew you guys were in trouble. I just prayed I'd be able to make it in time," Sam admitted.

"You knew? Like, you had one of your visions again?" Annie asked surprised.

Sam nodded, embarrassed. He lifted his hand to her forehead. "This is new, huh?"

"Is it bleeding again?" she whispered, casting a quick glance to Cassie and her mother.

"No, but Dean called me and told me about it,"

"Oh?' Annie asked, trying to sound nonchalant as she wondered what else Dean had told him. "Well, come here." She reached across the couch and hugged Sam to her. "Do me a favour, okay? No matter how much of an ass Dean is, don't take off like that again. Please?"

"Yeah, it looks like bad things seemed to happen when I'm not around to watch you guys," Sam joked, rubbing her back affectionately.

"Crazy immortal baby killers show up. Houses burn down. It's just becomes messy," Annie said with a smile. When she looked over Sam's shoulder at Dean she let out a burst of laughter. Dean was holding baby Emily by the arm pits as if afraid the baby was a bomb. He looked over at her with an uneasy smile. He carried the baby towards her. "Take her. I beg you."

"Good lord, Dean. The kid isn't gonna attack you," Annie said rolling her eyes as she stood up and gathered the little girl into her arms. But the baby began to cry, clearly wanting Dean. Then as Annie handed the baby back to Dean, she remembered a very important detail that had slipped her mind in all the chaos.

"Uh, Dean, my purse was in Cassie's house," she tried to whisper so that Sam wouldn't hear what she was referring to.

"Oh yeah, that sucks."

"No, Dean. My purse was in Cassie's house," And the pregnancy test had been in her purse was the unspoken message she tried to convey.

Dean picked up on it, his face going slightly pale. "Son of a bitch," Dean swore, which caused Emily to giggle.

The End


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